The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
and
pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in Hungary.
It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a
post-communist
Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...
evolution and one of two legal successors of the
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, MSZMP) was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of the Hungarian People's Republic between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working Peop ...
(MSZMP). Along with its conservative rival
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
, MSZP was one of the two most dominant parties in Hungarian politics until
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
; however, the party lost much of its popular support as a result of the
Őszöd speech
The Őszöd speech ( hu, Őszödi beszéd) was a speech Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány delivered to the 2006 Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) congress in Balatonőszöd. Though the May congress was confidential, Gyurcsány's addre ...
, the consequent
2006 protests, and then the
2008 financial crisis. Following the 2010 election, MSZP became the largest opposition party in parliament, a position it held until
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, when it was overtaken by the right-wing
Jobbik
The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary.
Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...
.
History
The MSZP evolved from the
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, MSZMP) was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of the Hungarian People's Republic between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working Peop ...
(or MSZMP), which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. By the summer of 1989, the MSZMP was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party, and had been taken over by a faction of radical reformers who favoured jettisoning the Communist system in favour of a market economy. One of its leaders,
Rezső Nyers, the architect of the
New Economic Mechanism The New Economic Mechanism (NEM) ( hu, Új gazdasági mechanizmus) was a major economic reform launched in the People's Republic of Hungary in 1968. Between 1972 and 1978, it was curtailed by the prevailing winds of Eastern Bloc politics. During th ...
in the 1960s and 1970s, was elected as chairman of a four-man collective presidency that replaced the old MSZMP Politburo. Although General Secretary
Károly Grósz
Károly Grósz (1 August 1930 – 7 January 1996) was a Hungary, Hungarian communism, communist politician, who served as the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party from 1988 to 1989.
Early career
Grósz was born in Misko ...
, who had succeeded longtime leader
János Kádár
János József Kádár (; ; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989), born János József Czermanik, was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health le ...
a year earlier, was elected to this body, Nyers now outranked him–and was thus now the de facto leader of Hungary.
At a party congress on 7 October 1989, the MSZMP dissolved and refounded itself as the MSZP, with Nyers as its first president. A marginal "Communist" faction led by Grósz broke away to form a revived Hungarian Communist Workers' Party, now known as the
Hungarian Workers' Party
The Hungarian Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Munkáspárt) is a communist party in Hungary led by Gyula Thürmer. Established after the fall of the communist Hungarian People's Republic, the party has yet to win a seat in the Hungarian parliament. ...
, the other successor of the MSZMP.
The decision to declare the MSZP a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and still carries repercussions for both the MSZP and Hungary. Another source of controversy is that some members of the former communist elite maintained political influence in the MSZP. Indeed, many key MSZP politicians were active members or held leadership positions within the MSZMP (like
Gyula Horn
Gyula János Horn (5 July 1932 – 19 June 2013) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998.
Horn is remembered as the last Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs who played a major role in the demolishi ...
and
László Kovács).
On economic issues, the Socialists have often been greater advocates of
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
,
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
policies than the conservative opposition, which has tended to favor more state interventionism in the economy through economic and price regulations, as well as through state ownership of key economic enterprises. The MSZP, in contrast, implemented a strong package of market reforms, austerity and
privatization
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
in 1995–96, called the
Bokros package The Bokros package ( hu, Bokros-csomag; named after the then-Minister of Finance Lajos Bokros) was a series of austerity measures announced by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Gyula Horn in Hungary on 12 March 1995.
Background
Having lost the free ...
, when Hungary faced an economic and financial crisis. According to researchers, the elites of the Hungarian 'left' (MSZP and SZDSZ) have been differentiated from the 'right' by being more supportive of the classical
neo-liberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
economic policies, while the 'right' (especially extreme right) has advocated more interventionist policies. In contrast, issues like church and state and former communists show alignment along the traditional left-right spectrum. It is also noteworthy that, according to research, the MSZP elite's positions used to be closer to voters of the SZDSZ than to their own.
Besides a more liberal approach to the economy overall, the MSZP differentiated itself from the conservative opposition through its more recent focus on transforming state social policy from a collection of measures that benefit the entire population, such as subsidies available to all citizens, to one based on financial and social need.
Besides
Gyula Horn
Gyula János Horn (5 July 1932 – 19 June 2013) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998.
Horn is remembered as the last Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs who played a major role in the demolishi ...
, the MSZP's most internationally recognized politicians were
Ferenc Gyurcsány and
László Kovács, a former member of the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
, responsible for taxation.
Electoral history
The MSZP faced the voters for the first time at the
1990 elections, the first free elections held in Hungary in 44 years. It was knocked down to fourth place with only 33 seats.
Nyers handed the leadership to Horn, Hungary's last Communist foreign minister. Horn led the MSZP to an outright majority at the
1994 parliamentary election. Although the MSZP could have governed alone, he opted to form a coalition with the liberal
Alliance of Free Democrats
The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party ( hu, Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, SZDSZ) was a liberal political party in Hungary.
The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats ...
(SZDSZ). He not only wanted to allay concerns inside and outside Hungary of a former Communist party holding a majority, but needed the Free Democrats' votes to get economic reforms (what became the Bokros package) past his own party's left wing. Thus the MSZP was released from a so-called "political quarantine" imposed by the other Hungarian parties; during the first five years after the change of system, the other parties cooperated to shut out the MSZP from decision-making.
After being turned out of office in
1998, the party was able to form a renewed centre-left coalition with the Free Democrats in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
.
At the
2006 elections, MSZP won with 43.2% of party list votes, which gave it 190 representatives out of 386 in the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. The MSZP was therefore able to retain its coalition government from the previous term. In earlier elections, the MSZP polled 10.89% (1990), 32.98% (1994), 32.92% (1998) and 42.05% (2002).
After the successful
fees abolishment referendum, MSZP formed the first
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
of Hungary, following the SZDSZ's backing out of the coalition with a deadline of 1 May 2008.
2010s decline
On 21 March 2009 Gyurcsány announced his resignation as Prime Minister due to failure management of the
economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
.
Gordon Bajnai
György Gordon Bajnai (; born 5 March 1968) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and economist, who served as the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, he functioned as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development from 2007 ...
became the nominee of MSZP for the post of prime minister in March 2009 and he became Prime Minister on 14 April. Gyurcsány also resigned from his position of party chairman, which he had occupied since 2007.
MSZP lost half of its supporters during the
European Parliament election in 2009, receiving only 17.37% of the votes and gained four seats compared to the previous nine seats. This electoral defeat marked the end of the ''de facto'' two-party system in Hungary, which had lasted since 1998.
The Hungarian Socialist Party suffered a heavy defeat in the
2010 election (won by
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
with a ⅔ majority), gaining only 19.3% of the votes, and 59 seats in the parliament. Following the resignation of
Ildikó Lendvai, the party's prime minister candidate
Attila Mesterházy
Attila Mesterházy (born 30 January 1974) is a Hungarian politician, who served as the seventh chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) from 10 July 2010 to 29 May 2014. He was the party's candidate for the position of Prime Minister of ...
was elected Chairman of the Socialist Party. Nevertheless, MSZP became the biggest opposition party in Hungary.
The left-wing fragmented after the 2010 election; at first
Katalin Szili
Katalin Szili (born 13 May 1956) is a Hungarian politician and jurist, a former Member of the National Assembly, who served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2009.
Following an administrative career in the Hungarian People's Rep ...
left the MSZP to form
Social Union (SZU), following the similarly significant defeated
local elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
in October 2010, nevertheless Gyurcsány's detachment was a much worse disaster for the Socialists. Initially, the former PM wanted to reform the party, but his goals remained in the minority. As a result, Gyurcsány, along with nine other members of the parliamentary group, left MSZP and established
Democratic Coalition (DK). Thus MSZP's number of MPs reduced to 48.
The Socialist Party entered into an alliance with four other parties in January 2014 to contest the
April parliamentary election. Mesterházy was elected candidate for the Prime Minister position, but the
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...
alliance failed to win. After that the electoral coalition disestablished. On the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, MSZP suffered the largest defeat since the
1990 parliamentary election, gaining third place and only 10% of the votes. After the obvious failure, Mesterházy and the entire presidium of the Socialist Party resigned.
József Tóbiás
József Tóbiás (born 15 July 1970) is a Hungarian politician, who served as the leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) from 19 July 2014 to 25 June 2016. He was also a Member of Parliament from 1998 to 2019.
Career
Tóbiás was born ...
was elected leader of the Socialist Party on 19 July 2014 following the resignation of Mesterházy. He also became leader of the parliamentary group in September 2014. During his leadership, the Socialist Party won a parliamentary by-election (2014) and an important mayoral by-election (
Salgótarján
Salgótarján (; sk, Šalgotarján) is city with county rights in Hungary, the capital of Nógrád county, north-eastern Hungary, making it the third smallest county capital based on population. The nearby Salgó castle is a well-known tourist ...
), however the party itself was permanently pushed back to the third place by far-right
Jobbik
The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary.
Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...
according to the opinion polls. Tóbiás did not support the full cooperation and unification of the left-wing opposition parties against
Viktor Orbán
Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...
. During the MSZP party congress in June 2016, he was defeated by
Gyula Molnár
Gyula Molnár (born 17 August 1961) is a Hungarian politician who was the leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party between 2016 and 2018. He was a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2010 and from 2018 to 2022, and also served as Mayor of Újbuda ...
, a former Socialist MP and mayor, who succeeded him as party chairman. In February 2016, the party decided to sell its headquarters at Jókai Street for financial reasons. In June 2018, Bertalan Tóth was elected president in the MSZP, shortly after the party suffered its worst electoral defeat since 1990.
The party further declined in the
2019 European election, only scoring 6.61% of votes (even in alliance with
Dialogue for Hungary
Dialogue for Hungary ( hu, Párbeszéd Magyarországért, Párbeszéd or PM), also known in its shortened form Dialogue since September 2016, is a green political party in Hungary that was formed in February 2013 by eight MPs who left the Politi ...
) and being overtaken by the
Democratic Coalition and
Momentum
In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...
. In
2019 local elections the party managed (due to cooperation with other parties) to win mayorships ir
Érd
Érd (; german: Hanselbeck; hr, Andzabeg) is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It is a city with county rights
A city with county rights (or urban county, Hungarian: ''megyei jogú város'', MJV) is a level of admini ...
and
Szombathely
Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...
. Also in these elections MSZP managed to win mayorships in those areas, where it never had a mayor since 1990 (e. g.
Mohács
Mohács (; Croatian and Bunjevac: ''Mohač''; german: Mohatsch; sr, Мохач; tr, Mohaç) is a town in Baranya County, Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube.
Etymology
The name probably comes from the Slavic ''*Mъchačь'',''*Mocháč'': ...
).
The 2019 local election results caused resignations from the party on the local level (e. g.
Szeged
Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...
mayor
Laszlo Botka).
In 2020, the party's congress supported a change to the party's structure. Instead of having one leader, the party would nominate two co-leaders – a man and woman (similar structure has been implemented in 2019 by the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
).
Ideology
In political terms, the MSZP differentiates itself from its conservative opponents mainly in its rejection of
Hungarian nationalism
Hungarian nationalism developed in the late 18th century and early 19th century along the classic lines of scholarly interest leading to political nationalism and mass participation. In the 1790s, Hungarian nobles pushed for the adoption of Hungar ...
. The party is a member of the
Progressive Alliance
The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of social democratic and progressive political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Social ...
,
the
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...
, and the
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party.
The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...
(PES), and it holds a chairmanship and several vice-chairmanships in committees at the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
.
Election results
National Assembly
Single Member Constituencies voting consistently for MSZP
The image shows Single Member Constituencies (or SMCs) voting for MSZP in 1998, 2002, 2006 in dark red, while showing SMCs voting for MSZP in 2002 and 2006 in red. The dark red districts are considered the strongest positions of the party. Most if not all districts shown in dark red and red also voted for MSZP in 1994, a landslide victory for the party. So actually, dark red districts have an even longer uninterrupted voting history of supporting MSZP.
European Parliament
1 In an electoral alliance with Dialogue for Hungary
Dialogue for Hungary ( hu, Párbeszéd Magyarországért, Párbeszéd or PM), also known in its shortened form Dialogue since September 2016, is a green political party in Hungary that was formed in February 2013 by eight MPs who left the Politi ...
Party leaders
Chairpersons (1989–2020)
Co-leaders (2020–present)
See also
*
Politics of Hungary
Politics of Hungary takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The prime minister is the head of government of a pluriform multi-party system, while the president is the head of state and holds a large ...
*
Hungarian Communist Party
The Hungarian Communist Party ( hu, Magyar Kommunista Párt, abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary ( hu, Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja, abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar ...
References
External links
Official websiteThe Evolution and Development of the Hungarian Socialist Party. Dr Kate Hudson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungarian Socialist Party
Political parties in Hungary
Social democratic parties in Hungary
1989 establishments in Hungary